Blockchain Startup Educhain Graduates Dubai Future Accelerators

Educhain, a blockchain startup in educational technology, has graduated from Dubai Future Accelerators (DFA). The company is now planning to launch a pilot project across all levels of education in selected institutions in Dubai starting early 2018.

Educhain enables academic institutions to issue official academic credentials digitally, and automate their verification. It brings control over records into the hands of the registrar, and control over who views academic records into the hands of the student. In the process it eliminates admin costs and processing times for institutions, while creating new revenue streams. Educhain brings about a paradigm shift in the way credentials can be managed, disrupting incumbent intermediaries and creating value for institutions, students, and employers.

The DFA was launched in 2016 by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and the Chairman of Dubai Future Foundation under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai. The DFA is an intensive nine-week program pairing technology companies with leading government organizations to create transformational solutions, backed by a AED 1 billion (US$275M) fund.

Last month, Educhain was invited by the DFA to collaborate with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), the educational quality assurance and regulatory authority of Dubai, to work towards its challenge to create self-regulating, future ready school communities to be among the best in the world by 2025. Educhain and the KHDA explored the potential of Educhain’s blockchain solutions to enable digital transformation in academic credentialing and attestation, in line with the Dubai Blockchain Strategy 2020.

“With education being one of the strategic sectors in the UAE, it was a pleasure to host Educhain as the first blockchain startup with the KHDA, and it is exciting to see such early progress with multiple partnerships signed over the course of the program,” said H.E. Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Accelerators. “We look forward to continued success with implementation of a milestone pilot project in the coming months.”